Galey - Sarah Tessie Mathers - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Source: Tri-County News Thursday, Nov 15, 1956

Tessie MATHERS was an infant of less than one year of age when her parents, William and Sarah Mathers and the other children of the family set out from their comfortable and secure home at Clear Creek, Indiana to make a new home in the “west.” The west at that time still included the newly-formed state of KS and it was near Benton in that state that the Mathers settled a timber claim. The year was 1871 and Tessie celebrated her first birthday on Oct 8 riding in a covered wagon towards her new home. That was 5 years before General George Custer and his army were wiped out in one of the great battles which marked the wresting of the plains from the Indians. Indian warfare was not too far removed from the Benton home at that time and a further problem also was ever present as the great and sprawling cattle ranches resisted the flood of settlers coming into the region to make new homes. But the Mathers were only part of the tide which flowed into the West following the Homestead act of 1862 and in the 20-year period following 1860, the population of KS jumped from 100,000 to a million. Throughout her girlhood years Tassie lived the life of a typical western girl – it was her chore to keep the cattle, sheep and other animals from getting lost on the plains as there were no fences. She could jump on a horse bareback and gallop off to retrieve the straying herds of her father’s ranch. She learned to use a gun and found good use for that achievement when she later married Fisher Galey of Browns Valley and returned to Indiana in protecting her chickens from varmint such as coons, opossums and weasels. Her children have never gotten over her skill in shooting nor in killing snakes. Once she killed a squirrel which she and her mother skinned (ending up with almost as many hairs on the squirrel after it was skinned as before). Mrs. Galey remembers with much pride the character and stability of her parents, William and Sarah Mathers who were charter members of the Christian Church they established near Benton, KS. This early training has had a deep influence on her life and she has always lived close to the church. For 25 years she taught a Sunday School class in Browns Valley Baptist Church and at the present time she speaks with great satisfaction of the five young deacons who serve in nearby churches who were her former Sunday School pupils. During both World Wars she corresponded with her boys in the service and in the late war she got letters and cards from many different countries where they were serving. She is very proud of the boys and girls she taught in Sunday School, many of them fine community and church workers today and considers this work one of her finest contributions. After 85 years, Mrs. Galey decided that it would be interesting to visit her birthplace for she had heard through one of her cousins that the house was still standing after nearly 100 years. This house was built by her fath er—But no one could imagine my surprise to see just the kind of house father built. It is located on the side of a hill and faces the Monon RR station there at Clear Creek. Flagstone steps lead up to the front porch. It is built of brick and Indiana limestone in the style of the early American tradition with center hall which goes the full length of the house winding stairway, large fireplaces, fine cabinet work in the cabinets which reach from floor to ceiling; and as I looked at those huge blocks of stone which make the foundation of the house as firm as the day my father put them there. I thought as I often do of his wonderful strength of character and what a heritage he gave his seven children. I am glad I have seen the house and I do not wonder now why mother often grieved about leaving her home in Indiana for the dangers and hardships of pioneer life.” Mrs. Galey remembers the hardships of those early days; the cold winters; the droughts. The crop destroyers of various kinds and especially the grasshoppers which once ate up the watermelons except for the red centers. But in with the hardships were the community sings, the spelling bees and box suppers. She never forgets the thrilling stories which her mother, Sarah Wetherill Mathers used to tell about her childhood and younger days. About the visits to her Grandfather Wetherill’s home in Philadelphia, a mansion of a place with 59 rooms surrounded by grounds with a large fountain in the middle and deer wandering about; she told of the trip her parents made form Philadelphia to Louisiana by boat which became lost in a storm and for 3 weeks sharks followed their boat, how when she was a young girl a pirate came to their town on the Louisiana coast and was planning to kidnap her; and finally her honeymoon on horseback from Lousiana to Indiana. Sarah Mathers was a strong person both physically and spiritually – a good neighbor who practiced as a midwife and went far and near to care for her neighbors in Kansas. She lived her late years with Mrs. Galey at Browns Valley and died in her 90th year of pneumonia. The only times she had a doctor was when her children were born and one of them was born without the care of a doctor, during the Civil War. Until about 3 years ago, Mrs. Galey had two brothers and a sister living who were older than herself. She now has one brother in his 89th year. “It is interesting to note the progress that has been made in our country since I made my appearance here,” Mrs. Galey said. “The first time I went to Kansas was by covered wagon; the last time was in a TWA four-motored transport plane. I remember the exceitement in our community in KS when the first railroad was in the process of being built there; and when I came back to Indiana in 1888 there was much talk about hearing the human voice over a wire; we were still burning candles and coal oil lamps. Of course there were no automobiles, and the roads in the winter were almost impassable. But there was one thing we did have that I loved – and that was the fine neighborly spirit in the community – everybody did everything for everyone – in sickness, in health, in death, it was wonderful. It seems to me that the radio and the television have taken this comradeship away to some extent. Now it appears that we all have so much that we are losing something of what shall I say – being our brother’s keeper, perhaps. However, I am glad and grateful that I could live at a time when so many things have been achieved – especially in science in medicine and in education. I am proud of our country and the place it has taken in world leadership and world affairs. If the next 86 years brings as much advances as the past it is hard to tell just what will happen. We should be grateful for the wonders that God has made it possible for men to perceive – and all thesethings are as nothing to the promise given in I Cor. 2:9 – Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man,t he things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Mrs. Gayley’s husband, Fisher Galey died in 1940. She still has all her children except one. They are: Homer M. Galey who resides at Browns Valley. William l. Galey of Kansas City; Charles who lives with her at her daughtesr, Mrs. Frank Shanks in Waveland and Mrs. JR Canine at Browns Valley. She has six grandchildren and one great grandchild. -- kbz

Source: Tri-County News, Oct 12, 1961

Mrs. Sallie S. GALEY died at 1:15 p.m. Saturday in Culver Hospital, Crawfordsville. She had been seriously ill two days. Mrs. Galey, who was 91 Sunday was born Oct 8, 1870 in Clear Creek, the daughter of William and Sarah Wetherill Mathers. She married Fisher B. Galey in 1888. They were married in Benton, Kansas. Mrs. Galey was a member of the Browns Valley Baptist Church and taught Sunday Schoolf or more than 25 years. She was educated in Benton but lived in Browns Valley - Waveland area most of her life. She had made her home in this community for the past 12 years. Surviving are 3 sons: homer of Stuart, Fl; Roy of Kansas City, Mo; and Charles of Waveland; two daughters, Mrs. JR Canine of Browns Valley and Mrs. Frank Shanks of Waveland; six grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and sevearl nieces and nephews. Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Machledt & Servies Funeral Home with Rev. Raymond Skelton, Logansport officiating; interment was in Freedom Cemetery north of Waveland. -- kbz